We use cookies to allow us and selected partners to improve your experience and our advertising. By continuing to browse you consent to our use of cookies. You can understand more and change your cookies preferences here.
When you click on a retailer link on our site, we may earn affiliate commission to help fund our not-for-profit mission.Find out more.
If you're a runner or swimmer looking for a wearable to track your workout and help you up your game, or simply an intrepid, outdoorsy type looking for a navigational aid, you've come to the right place.
We've rounded up the latest wearables from Garmin, Huawei and Suunto that are packed with sensors and technology for running, swimming and exploring the great outdoors. Whether you're looking for the best money can buy, or you're on a stricter budget, we've got you covered.
If none of these grab your fancy, our pick of Best Buy fitness or activity trackers.
A chunky watch, available in three sizes: the Fenix 5s Plus, Fenix 5 Plus and Fenix 5X Plus. It's packed with a huge range of advanced technology, including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, colour maps, a ClimbPro feature for hikers and mountain or hill runners, a built-in heart-rate monitor for helping you pace yourself across the day, accelerometer, altimeter, compass, thermometer and information on your blood oxygen levels in high altitudes (Fenix Plus 5X only).
The Garmin Fenix 5s Plus is also well suited for swimmers, as it detects strokes automatically and measures your pace, calories and SWOLF (swimming efficiency).
Runners will also get plenty of stats, although there are many cheaper options if you mainly train in the park or on the treadmill.
Read our Garmin Fenix 5s Plus reviewfor the verdict on this feature-packed watch, includingwhether it's durable and easy to use.
Made with US military-grade materials for extra toughness, the Garmin Instinct is far more affordable than the Fenix range but still packs a lot in. Features includeGPS, GLONASS and Galileo, heart-rate monitoring, an altimeter, elevation map, fitness tracking for a raft of activities including hiking, trail running and skiing, and TracBack for finding your way back to the start of a route.
A big, sturdy-looking watch, suitable for the pool or sea, but not for scuba diving or other watersports. It offers swimming metrics such as distance, time, calories, stroke and swimming efficiency. As with many wearables, its optical heart-rate sensor is disabled in swim mode, but Suunto also sells a compatible chest heart-rate monitor.
Suunto specialises in precision navigation instruments, so this is another device that's also great for explorers. It has on-device GPS and cool mapping features, including heat maps of popular paths and details of the total distance, ascent and estimated time for your planned route. You can also save 'memories' and add descriptions to them - great if you're a trail runner who wants to remember the location of a beautiful view.
TheSuunto 9 isone of the priciest fitness watches you can buy - read our Suunto 9 review to find out if it's worth it.
A tempting option for swimmers wanting to try a wearable for the first time, the Huawei Honor Band 4 looks like any other cheap fitness band but includes a dedicated swimming mode. It'll give you details of your stroke count, pace and distance, and you can pre-program drills into it.
It also has a heart-rate monitor, but this feature doesn't work in swim mode. A word of warning: Huawei says you shouldn't wear the Honor Band 4 in a hot shower.
Find out what we liked and disliked about it in our fullHuawei Honor Band 4 review.
Specialist wearables don't have to be super-expensive. The Huawei Band 3e is about as cheap a tracker as you'll get, and it'll give you in-depth feedback on your running, including your foot strike pattern, average ground contact time and average swing angle. It'll even suggest ways to improve your posture and positioning, so you can up your performance and avoid injury. You'll need to pop it out of its silicone wristband and wear it on your shoe to get all this.
It doesn't have GPS or heart-rate monitoring (and can't be paired with an external heart-rate monitor), so isn't ideal for competitive runners training for an event. If you're a keen but casual runner, though, this might be just what you're looking for.
Read all about it in our full review of the Huawei Band 3e.
A running watch with GPS, a heart-rate monitor and storage for 500 songs. It tracks stats such as ground contact time, balance, stride length, cadence and vertical ratio to help you develop a steady and balanced running style and it will analyse your training status, improvements in training and your recovery time.
You can also see your overall training load - showing how your recent exercise compares with the optimal range for your fitness and training level.
Find out how theGarmin Forerunner 645 Music compares with others in the Forerunner range.
In addition to all of the features listed here, you'll want your wearable to:
Our smartwatch reviews and fitness or activity tracker reviews reveal all of this information and more, so you can find the perfect watch to help you keep your fitness routine in check.